Star point guard Kyrie Irving has been linked to the Los Angeles Lakers for a long time now, and it seems that the rumors won’t die down as time goes on.
In a new twist in the saga, it seems like the Dallas Mavericks don’t have much interest in executing a sign-and-trade with the Lakers for Irving.
NBA insider Jake Fischer offered that information while writing about how the league could be affected by whatever decision the Phoenix Suns make regarding Chris Paul.
“The Suns backed off their pursuit of Irving and refocused on landing a bigger prize in [Kevin] Durant, but Phoenix officials haven’t just abandoned the interest they held in Irving four months ago,” Fischer wrote. “That would require some cooperation from the Mavericks, who have so far signaled little willingness to entertain a possible sign-and-trade for Irving with the Lakers, sources said. Dallas, of course, hopes to retain Irving after mortgaging two key rotation pieces plus a 2029 first-round pick to acquire him. But if Irving were to call his shot out of town, perhaps the Mavericks would be more willing to work with a return that netted Paul as opposed to Los Angeles point guard D’Angelo Russell.”
It’s been previously reported that the Mavericks would have no interest in acquiring Russell as the main piece in an Irving sign-and-trade. Furthermore, the Lakers have apparently maintained that they have no interest in acquiring Irving.
To make matters even more interesting, the one-time champion supposedly wants to shut down the notion that he’s “angling” to get to the Lakers.
All in all, it’s a pretty messy situation that doesn’t seem like it will lose traction anytime soon. The rumors of Irving possibly joining the Lakers sometime in the future will likely persist even if the eight-time All-Star re-signs with the Mavericks this offseason.
The three-time All-NBA selection is set to become an unrestricted free agent once the 2022-23 season concludes. Irving was traded to the Mavericks by the Brooklyn Nets earlier this year and wound up playing in 20 games for Dallas.
In those contests, he recorded 27.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game while knocking down 51.0 percent of his shots from the field and 39.2 percent of his attempts from 3-point range.
Los Angeles is looking to upgrade its roster after getting swept in the Western Conference Finals by the Denver Nuggets, who currently hold a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals over the Miami Heat.
Only time will tell if Irving somehow lands in Los Angeles, but it doesn’t seem all that likely as of now.
